Take a photo of a barcode or cover
calarco 's review for:
I cannot recall being on a longer library waitlist than the months I spent waiting to read John Lewis’ [b:Across That Bridge: A Vision for Change and the Future of America|13622279|Across That Bridge A Vision for Change and the Future of America|John Lewis|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1339118188l/13622279._SX50_.jpg|19225744] following his tragic passing this July. One of the “Big Six” who marched with Martin Luther King Jr., and having served as a congressman for Georgia for over 30 years, Lewis’ legacy is one that will resonate for generations.
The copy I read was the re-release published in 2017, and perhaps most interesting, was how John Lewis frames his past experience advocating for civil rights in the 1960s, with the current events of the Trump Administration:
“Even I, who has looked down the barrel of a gun with only my faith to defend me, would say there is a unique hostility in these times that almost seems worse to me than what we experienced in the 1960s. It is true, we were confronted with state-sponsored brutality, and people died because of the complicity of local government with fear mongering and terror. Yet, in those days, we could look to federal authority as a sympathetic referee in the struggle for civil rights and as an advocate for the need to challenge justice.”
If there is one thing that Lewis makes clear, it is that the road to progress is longer and harder than many believe it to be. The Fifteenth Amendment, passed in 1870, did grant people of color the right to vote, but progress was impeded by Jim Crow era “grandfather clauses.” Enacted at the state level, these laws dictated that anyone whose grandfather did not have the right to vote before the Civil War, would be subjected to a so-called “literacy test” just to qualify to vote. To say that these tests were ridiculous would be an understatement; the smartest person you know likely couldn’t pass one.
It was not until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that all Americans were actually granted the right to vote. This was one hundred years of advocacy, protest, demonstration, social organizing, and then some just to reach this point. Looking at movements through a deeper historical lens, John Lewis denounces the “fast food mentality” of the present day. He would argue that true change requires patience as much as perseverance.
“Freedom is not a state; it is an act. It is not some enchanted garden perched high on a distant plateau where we can finally sit down and rest. Freedom is the continuous action we all must take, and each generation must do its part to create an even more fair, more just society.”
Overall, this is a pretty great read from a great American mind. I definitely recommend it if you are looking for a message of hope in otherwise bleak times.
The copy I read was the re-release published in 2017, and perhaps most interesting, was how John Lewis frames his past experience advocating for civil rights in the 1960s, with the current events of the Trump Administration:
“Even I, who has looked down the barrel of a gun with only my faith to defend me, would say there is a unique hostility in these times that almost seems worse to me than what we experienced in the 1960s. It is true, we were confronted with state-sponsored brutality, and people died because of the complicity of local government with fear mongering and terror. Yet, in those days, we could look to federal authority as a sympathetic referee in the struggle for civil rights and as an advocate for the need to challenge justice.”
If there is one thing that Lewis makes clear, it is that the road to progress is longer and harder than many believe it to be. The Fifteenth Amendment, passed in 1870, did grant people of color the right to vote, but progress was impeded by Jim Crow era “grandfather clauses.” Enacted at the state level, these laws dictated that anyone whose grandfather did not have the right to vote before the Civil War, would be subjected to a so-called “literacy test” just to qualify to vote. To say that these tests were ridiculous would be an understatement; the smartest person you know likely couldn’t pass one.
It was not until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that all Americans were actually granted the right to vote. This was one hundred years of advocacy, protest, demonstration, social organizing, and then some just to reach this point. Looking at movements through a deeper historical lens, John Lewis denounces the “fast food mentality” of the present day. He would argue that true change requires patience as much as perseverance.
“Freedom is not a state; it is an act. It is not some enchanted garden perched high on a distant plateau where we can finally sit down and rest. Freedom is the continuous action we all must take, and each generation must do its part to create an even more fair, more just society.”
Overall, this is a pretty great read from a great American mind. I definitely recommend it if you are looking for a message of hope in otherwise bleak times.